SPL: Iain Vigurs denies Celtic as Ross County hit back for 1-1 draw

Iain Vigurs swept in a quality equaliser as Ross County held Celtic 1-1 to keep their dream of European football alive.

Last Updated: 05/05/13 5:46pm

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Iain Vigurs swept in a quality equaliser as Ross County held Celtic 1-1 and kept alive their dream of bringing European football to Ross-shire for the very first time.

A rutted surface and a swirling wind in Dingwall combined to make any sort of passing game a lottery as both sides struggled for rhythm.

Neil Lennon, who had made seven changes with Champions League qualifiers and a Scottish Cup Final on the horizon, saw his side take an early lead as they looked to break a run of five away games without a win.

Andre Hainault conceded a needless corner from which Kris Commons picked out Anthony Stokes (4) in the six-yard box and he had time and space to swivel and lash home his sixth of the season.

Steffen Wholfarth had a half chance while Tony Watt's driven cross caused some panic in the home defence as Celtic forced the early pace.

Vigurs had Lukasz Zaluska at full stretch with a free-kick but the County man's next meaningful contribution was more telling (41) as found the top corner from the angle after Richard Brittain had cleverly rolled a free-kick into his path.

Watt had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside before the interval while Stokes worked Michael Fraser and an Efe Ambrose header was hacked off the line by Brittain as Celtic looked for a response.

Wohlfarth planted a free header wide at the near post and the big German was inches away from getting a toe on a wicked delivery from Evangelos Ikonomou but County's late flurry failed to reap any additional reward.